About Jon Beinart - Artist Founder of This Website

Jon Beinart

Introduction

Jon Beinart is a visual artist, best known for his Toddlerpedes (doll sculptures) and detailed graphite and ink drawings. He also publishes art books focusing on the artwork and artists featured in the beinArt collective.

Follow Jon on Facebook and Twitter for new art and current news.

Jon needs an absurd number of plastic baby dolls to build a series of giant Toddlerpede sculptures. Please donate your unwanted doll parts for this cause.

Contact Jon Beinart at:

Contact Jon Beinart

As a child Jon was lost in his imagination and preoccupied with the lives of ants, snails, spiders & mice. This fascination with small worlds continued through his life, often blocking out the larger world around him and this interest is apparent in his art. Drawing is Jon’s oldest outlet and is an obsession that is deeply rooted and has become fundamental to his well-being.

“At the age of four, an eccentric friend of my family often babysat me. She made black and white woodcuts of anthropomorphic snakes with sagging breasts. They were often pregnant and wore nooses around their necks. She told me on many occasions that I was destined to be an artist when I grew up and that one of her snakes, which held a paintbrush and palate, was in fact a picture of me. When I asked her about the rope around my neck and why I had boobs, she said it was also a self-portrait! I found this very confusing. She was a bit crazy but her encouragement contributed to my development as an artist.” - JB

Most people tend to assume that Jon’s last name 'Beinart' is made up or that his surname is Bein and he added Art to the end as a gimmick. The truth is that Beinart (pronounced Bay-nart) is his family name.

Jon's most recent art can be viewed on his Facebook Fan Page.

"Jon is a mover and shaker. I am always amazed how he can consistently produce work and yet manage so many artists and creative ventures. He gives back to the creative community ten fold."

~ Beth Robinson, 2006.

Community art projects and the evolution of beinArt.org

Jon’s community art projects have included working with Angel Circus Collective for 2 years as Art Director and was also the curator of Impure Gallery in 2004. Jon founded The 'Underground Australian Art Collective' in 2003, which evolved into The 'International Surreal Art Collective' (this website) in 2006. Jon is compiling a collection of original artworks by artists from the beinArt Collective which he aims to tour internationally. He intends to establish his own gallery with these artworks on rotation or to donate the entire collection to a public museum on condition that it is never divided.

"When art's deeply personal, it often emerges onto the canvas in dark colours. Those hues are routinely a little too sullen for the fine art world. But that hasn't stopped Australian Jon Beinart, founder of the beinArt Surreal Art Collective from showcasing and celebrating dark representational art. An artist himself, Beinart fights the good fight to see weird personal images accepted and appreciated by art critics and Collectors."

~ Jovanka Vuckovic, Rue Morgue Magazine, October 2008.

Toddlerpedes

"Artist Johnny Beinart inverts our caring instinct into repulsion with these 'Toddlerpedes', twisting the cuteness out of baby dolls."

~ Maxim Magazine UK, August 2005.

"I like the idea that the dolls i use in my sculptures have played important roles in so many childhoods. Personalities were attributed to each doll, which have come together to form a mega-personality... A sculpture that screams 'Look at me!'" - JB

Toddlerpedes have attained notoriety on the Internet via popular blogs and social networking sites and have taken on a life of their own. Toddlerpedes evolved over the years to imitate insects and mythological creatures. These days they surround Jon. They are his children, ‘mini-me's’ that he finds irresistibly cute. The Toddlerpede has attracted much more attention than Jon’s drawings.

Artist seeks doll parts for gargantuan Toddlerpede sculpture.

Jon is desperately searching for recycled dolls. He needs thousands of plastic doll parts to finish his latest art project, which he aims to complete by the end of 2010. Jon intends to tour an army of gargantuan Toddlerpede sculptures in public galleries throughout Australia. Your pre-loved dolls would help greatly in making an artist’s dreams come true.

To donate your unwanted dollies, or doll parts, for this ambitious art installation please contact Jon.

"'The body of a doll is always slightly disturbing.' He might well be talking about a piece submitted for the project by Melbourne artist Jon Beinart entitled bubbapilla - a stack of five headless baby dolls, which are connected with only one head at the top. With each set of arms and legs pointing to the front, it does resemble a bizarre baby/caterpillar hybrid that is undeniably strange and beautiful."

~ Sayraphim Lothian, The Age, September 20, 2008.

Michelangelo's famous sculpture of Italian exhibitionist David this ain't. But it is mind-bogglingly weird, verging on brilliant. And it's guaranteed to give your high school art teacher anxiety hives..."

~ Maxim Magazine USA - June 2005

Drawings

Jon's approach to drawing is often spontaneous. This is especially the case with his older drawings, which were generally executed with no concept in mind. More recently, Jon began to use photo reference to make his subject matter more believable, but most of his process is still playful. New faces, figures and ideas emerge as an image unfolds. Recurring themes are figures and portraits made of small images, characters and body parts. Many people have asked Jon how long he takes to complete a drawing. This is difficult to answer since he prefers to keep his process painless by ignoring time.

"I never truly understand my images but I do occasionally gain insight into my fears and desires." - JB

Jon is often motivated by the desire to communicate his inner self to the world. He feels that sharing his work is an important part of the process and that feedback can offer profound insights into his art and himself.

Paintings

Since 2008, Jon has been experimenting with acrylics and oils. He has finished a number of paintings, but at this stage he is only showing a few on the internet ('Self Portrait in Oils' - right). He feels that he has a lot to learn about painting technique before his work has reached the standard he has set for himself.